US: Bechtel's 2003 Revenue Breaks Company Record by David R. Baker, San Francisco ChronicleApril 20th, 2004Bechtel Corp., the San Francisco engineering giant rebuilding Iraq, today will report record revenue of $16.3 billion in 2003, reversing a three- year slide.

Iraq: Companies Wait for the Smoke to Clearby Tim Webb and Clayton HirstApril 18th, 2004Iraq was supposed to provide rich pickings, with billions of dollars' worth of contracts up for grabs. But as kidnappings and killings undermine security still further, Tim Webb and Clayton Hirst ask if the reconstruction effort is about to unravel

Iraq: KBR contractors weigh heavy risks by Jenalia Moreno and Bill Hensel Jr. , Houston ChronicleApril 14th, 2004For more than a week, KBR officials have tried to prepare new hires like Michael Tovar, 29, for the risks they'll face as contractors in Iraq.

Investigation Needed into Bechtel's Failed Water Services Public CitizenApril 5th, 2004Bechtel Group Inc., one of the lead contractors in the reconstruction of Iraq, has failed its contractual mandate to develop essential water delivery and sewage disposal, according to information Public Citizen forwarded today to the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).Without Basic Water Services

Iraq: Trade Fair Postponed Over Security Fearsby Joshua Chaffin and Salamander Davoudi, Financial TimesApril 1st, 2004The deteriorating security situation in Iraq has prompted the postponement of a US-led trade fair aimed at accelerating reconstruction in the country amid heightening concerns about the safety of foreign civilians working there. Organisers of Destination Baghdad Expo, that was due to begin on Monday, postponed the event following the gruesome killings on Wednesday of four western contract workers in the city of Falluja.

Iraq: Rebuilding Plan Reviewedby Jackie Spinner and Mary Pat Flaherty, Washington PostMarch 31st, 2004The new inspector general of the U.S.-led interim authority in Iraq reported yesterday that though he is just beginning his own audits of reconstruction spending, he is concerned about the oversight of spending and control of cash.

Iraq: Security Pushes Up Contract Costsby Sue Pleming, ReutersMarch 31st, 2004Soaring security and insurance costs are driving up the price of contracts to rebuild Iraq and more funds may be needed, said a report on Wednesday by the U.S.-led authority's chief inspector in Iraq.

Iraq: Parsons Corp. Wins $900 Million ContractReutersMarch 30th, 2004California's Parsons Corp., one of the most active U.S. companies in Iraq, said on Tuesday it won a contract worth up to $900 million from the U.S. military for security and justice work in Iraq. The privately-owned engineering and construction company said the latest deal includes the restoration and construction of bases for the Iraqi security forces, police stations, border control stations, fire stations, courthouses and prisons.

Iraq: Halliburton Continues to Profitby Matt Kelley, Associated PressMarch 30th, 2004Halliburton Co. has reaped as much as $6 billion in contracts from the U.S. invasion of Iraq, but improprieties in those military contracts have also given Vice President Dick Cheney's former company high-profile headaches. Pentagon auditors have criticized Halliburton's estimating, spending and subcontracting, and they plan to begin withholding up to $300 million in payments next month. The Justice Department is investigating allegations of overcharges, bribes and kickbacks. Democrats have accused the company of war profiteering.

UK: Pentagon Warns British Contractorsby David Gow, Guardian (London)March 27th, 2004The Pentagon yesterday warned British firms winning contracts under its $ 18.4bn (£10bn) Iraqi reconstruction programme that they would be thrown out if they failed to give a minimum 10% of the work to US small businesses.

Iraq: Violence Slows Bechtel in Iraq by David R. Baker, San Francisco ChronicleMarch 23rd, 2004Violence has slowed or interrupted work at approximately 10 percent of Bechtel Corp.'s reconstruction sites in Iraq, government and company representatives said Thursday. Two of its subcontractors forced to curtail or suspend operations at hostile sites.

US: Carlyle Stands to Profit from Disasterby David Lazarus, San Francisco Chronicle March 21st, 2004The Washington investment firm, run by a who's who of Republican heavyweights, including former Secretary of State James Baker and former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, has put money into about 300 different companies and properties.
Those investments include United Defense Industries, a maker of combat vehicles, naval guns and missile launchers; and Sippican, a maker of submarine systems and countermeasures to protect warships

UK: Whitehall Warns UK Firms to Stop Sending Workers to Iraqby Severin Carrell, Tim Webb and Clayton Hirst, The Independent (London)March 18th, 2004British businesses hoping to win lucrative deals in Iraq have been told to scrap their plans to travel there because of the escalating violence against Westerners.

Bechtel: Profiting from Destructionby CorpWatch, Global Exchange, Public Citizen, Collaborative ReportJune 5th, 2003In this collaborative report we look at Bechtel's history of operations in the water, nuclear, energy and public works sectors.

IRAQ: Privatization in Disguiseby Naomi Klein, The NationApril 18th, 2003On April 6, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz spelled it out: There will be no role for the United Nations in setting up an interim government in Iraq. The US-run regime will last at least six months, "probably...longer than that."

Cheney's Close Ties to Brown and Rootby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchMarch 20th, 2003Halliburton, Brown and Root's parent company, is a Fortune 500 construction corporation working primarily for the oil industry. From 1962 to 1972 the Pentagon paid the company tens of millions of dollars to work in South Vietnam, where they built roads, landing strips, harbors, and military bases from the demilitarized zone to the Mekong Delta. The company was one of the main contractors hired to construct the Diego Garcia air base in the Indian Ocean, according to Pentagon military histories.

Halliburton Makes a Killing on Iraq Warby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchMarch 20th, 2003CorpWatch has learned that VP Cheney's former company has a $multi-million contract servicing troops in Kuwait. This special series looks at how Halliburton profits from the Iraq war, now that bombs are falling on Baghdad.

US: In Tough Times, a Company Finds Profits in Terror Warby Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr., New York TimesJuly 12th, 2002The Halliburton Company, the Dallas oil services company bedeviled lately by an array of accounting and business issues, is benefiting very directly from the United States efforts to combat terrorism.From building cells for detainees at Guantnamo Bay in Cuba to feeding American troops in Uzbekistan, the Pentagon is increasingly relying on a unit of Halliburton called KBR, sometimes referred to as Kellogg Brown & Root.